Organizers announced last week that the scholarship fund started by the late Harold Alfond that gives money to newborns for their educations was becoming easier to access.

Tuesday, the President and CEO of the Alfond Scholarship Foundation was in Bangor to speak to the Rotary Club.

She explained families will no longer have to set up a college savings plan to get the money.

Instead, $500 will be automatically given to all Maine-born babies.

“First and foremost, we want to make this kind of investment in Maine’s children because we know that their future and our future are inextricably linked. We know that an easier path and a stronger path to higher education means greater prosperity for these kids as they grow up and they’re able to take care of all of us,” said President & CEO of the Alfond Scholarship Foundation Colleen Quint.

Going forward, the Alfond Foundation hopes to spend $6 million every year for the, on average, 12,000 babies born in Maine.